Amazon pauses big plans for expansion

Company delays or cancels 16 warehouses

After expanding its fulfillment network during the pandemic, Amazon has delayed or canceled the launch of more than a dozen warehouses across the country, a company spokesperson confirmed.

Amazon’s distribution center in Cocoa, Florida, won’t operate until at least some time next year, Florida Today, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported this week.

Last month, the freight industry trade publication FreightWaves reported that Amazon had canceled or delayed plans to open at as many as 16 warehouse facilities in 12 states this year.

The company confirmed the accuracy of those numbers to USA TODAY. The Cocoa location is in addition to the sites the publication reported.

“Amazon so far this year has canceled, closed, listed for sublease or put on hold more than 25 delivery stations and fulfillment centers across the U.S. and has delayed opening 15 more, according to MWPVL data,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

Amazon closes or pauses more new sites

Amazon declined to answer questions from USA TODAY regarding how many new jobs were slated to open in the facilities that will no longer open this year or how jobs would be affected by a company pause in site openings.

The company also did not not answer questions about whether it will continue paying property taxes on the sites or how local and state subsidies used to attract Amazon to each area would now be affected.

“In total, Amazon has canceled, closed, delayed or put on hold more than 40 centers across the country, according to supply chain consultancy MWPVL International,” FreightWaves reported.

Amazon didn’t say whether it plans to reopen all of its paused sites and launch them at a later date.

“We weigh a variety of factors when deciding where to develop future sites to best serve customers,” Amazon spokesperson Alisa Carroll said in an email.

“We have dozens of fulfillment centers, sortation centers and delivery stations under construction and evolving around the world,” she said.

“It’s common for us to explore multiple locations simultaneously and adjust timetables based on needs across the network.”

Carroll also declined to answer questions about whether recent efforts to form unions at some of its warehouse facilities had an effect on the decisions to pause or cancel site openings.